The Third Summer
by Short Moose
Summary: What would you invent if you got to have Tony Stark's lab and resources? This is part 4/10 of the Andi Hojem series. I don't own anything except for a few plot points -ShortMoose-.
1. Chapter 1

"I can't believe you walk like that all of the time." I chuckled to myself as I snapped my suitcase closed.

"I can't believe you still laugh every time I walk into a room." Tony Stark said incredulously.

"Well, it's just so funny that you walk everywhere like you're about to sleep with someone." I heaved my luggage up from my bed.

"Okay, now I'm seeing the funny side."

"Everything all packed?" Mr. Hawkins asked from the doorway. I was spending the summer at the Stark mansion in Malibu. Why? I feel like being nice.

"Yeah. Thanks again for letting me go, Dad."

Mr. Hawkins gave me one of his 'this will make you feel better for the rest of your life' hugs. "Anytime, kiddo. Call me when you get there, okay?"

I smiled. "I will. And you tell Virgil and Richie that I'm just call away if they need me."

"I will." He smiled back. "You know, you've grown up so much since I first met you."

I scoffed. "When you first met me I was standing on the side of the road with a bloody coat."

"Yes you were." Tony sensed us taking a little trip down memory lane and quietly slipped out of the room.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Well, I know most of the folks in town, and Virgil described you as 'yay-high with short dark hair and strange clothing'."

"I dressed weird?"

"Well it was strangely warm that evening and you were wearing a sweatshirt."

I nodded in remembrance. "Right, I guess that would be a little weird."

"So what are you going to do in Malibu?"

I sighed. "Hopefully something productive."

That made him laugh. "It's always a mystery with you, isn't it?"

"Well I guess I can tell you."

He laughed again. "You can tell me anything, and you know it."

"I am actually going to try to help my friend."

"That girl you met? The one can't touch anyone?"

I nodded. "Yeah, Rogue. I figure, why not turn this gun," I pulled out the gun that Stryker stole last year. "Into something helpful."

He smiled. "That's my girl." He gave me another hug. "I'm going to miss you around here."

I smiled and a feeling of sadness filled my heart. "I'll be back before you know it."

"But then you'll be off to college."

"But I'll come back. I'll always come back."

"Promise?"

I nodded. "I promise."

He let me go and pat my shoulders. "You better be going."

I nodded again. "Right."

"You have fun, alright?" It really hurt him to see me go.

"I'd have more fun if you guys came too."

He sighed. "You know we can't. Sharon and Adam are planning their wedding, Trina can't take off from work, and Virgil and Richie are busy doing God knows what. You're on your own for this one, kid."

"I hate being alone." I murmured. Ever since last summer, I had become extremely clingy to the Hawkins – my – family. It's gotten to the point where I've been thinking about skipping out on Langara College in Vancouver and going to Gotham University instead.

"Hey, I am available every minute of every day, you know that. I don't care if it's three in the morning or if I'm in the shower, you call when you need to call, okay?"

"Okay." Unknowingly, tears started to fall from my eyes.

"Why are you crying?" Mr. Hawkins wiped one of my tears away.

"I'm just going to miss you guys so much." I wiped my face viciously.

"You've spent a summer away before." He tried to reason with me.

"Yeah, but…things are just different now. I mean, I almost lost you last time."

He grabbed my face gently and tilted my head so that I could look into his eyes. "We're going to be okay. Have I ever lied to you before?"

"No." I replied sheepishly.

"Then we're going to be fine."

A knock on the doorframe brought us out of our reverie. "You ready to go?" Tony asked.

I looked up at Mr. Hawkins for one last time, and then I turned to Tony. "Yeah. I'm ready."

Tony and I started walking down the hallway when Mr. Hawkins gave a cry. "Wait!" I turned around. "You forgot your hat."

I took the black hat from him. "Thanks, Dad." I slightly pet Johnny's old hat.

"Just in case you need it."

"I'll try not to."

He smiled and repeated, "That's my girl."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Welcome to Stark Mansion." Tony said when we walked into the house.

I nodded. "Nice. Not as nice as Wayne Manor, but…" I teased him. Tony has become like a long distance brother over the past year or so.

"My house is high-tech." He came back with.

"Pshaw, my house is classy."

"Ouch."

I just smiled. "Thanks again for lending me your lab."

"No problem. What's mine is yours."

"Likewise." He smiled back.

"Come on, I'll show you to your room." We headed up the stairs, me with my duffel bag in hand. "Although, if you're anything like me, you're not going to be sleeping there much."

"Workaholic?"

He nodded. "Very much so." We were silent for about three minutes before we came to what would become my bedroom. He opened the door to reveal a light blue room with a queen sized bed and a matching oak dresser and nightstand. To the left of the room was a full bathroom and to the right was a beautiful view of the Pacific.

"This is beautiful."

"If you have any questions, you can ask Pepper, myself, or JARVIS."

"JARVIS?"

"Yes, ma'am." A smooth, robotic voice answered. Okay, that spooked me a little.

"Just A Rather Very Intelligent System." Tony explained. "He'll be assisting you downstairs."

"You won't be?"

He shook his head. "No, I've got several things on my plate this summer, sorry."

"You mean, working with Fury."

He sighed. "Yes."

"He's _your_ friend."

"His people skills are getting better, trust me."

"The man shot me, trying to get me on his side."

"We're working on it."

"It's true, ma'am," JARVIS piped in. "Mr. Fury has had more interaction with others since your encounter two years ago."

"That is going to freak me out so bad."

Tony just chuckled.


	2. Chapter 2

"Would you like my assistance, ma'am?" JARVIS asked out of nowhere as I sat down at the hologram desk.

"Jumping Jigglypuff!" I sighed when my nerves calmed slightly. "JARVIS, I think we need to talk."

"About what, ma'am?"

"Look," I had to break it to him gently. "I've always been very skittish. And you're random inputs don't exactly help the problem."

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I'll try not to be so surprising."

"And another thing, stop calling me 'ma'am'. Just call me Andi, like everyone else."

"I have been programmed to call all males 'sir' and all females 'ma'am'. Unless my programming is changed, I will still call you 'ma'am'."

"Is there anything you can call me that's not ma'am? Like Miss Hawkins, or Miss Wayne or something?" Please let there be an alternative.

"I can address you as 'Miss Wayne'."

"Alrighty then. What do you say we get to work?"

Even though he was just a machine, I could've sworn that he smiled. "Let's get started, Miss Wayne."

I, in turn, smiled back. "Alright, JARVIS, let's take this puppy apart." I placed the gun onto the table and a robot hand put a screwdriver on the table next to it. I was shocked by its presence, but I was also slight happy about seeing it. "Thank you."

It nodded the hand.

"JARVIS?"

"Yes, Miss Wayne?"

"As I take this apart, I want you to scan each piece and create an image of it on the desk, alright?" I picked up the screwdriver and started to take off the bolts that were holding the gun together.

"Of course."

"And everything we do today can be stored in a folder called 'PLINY E.'"

"Anything else before we get started, Miss Wayne?"

I stopped and left the barely dismantled gun on the table, lifeless. "Yeah. Can you patch a call for me?"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

A few hours later, after the call to Dad, the gun being dismantled and saved, I had decided it was a good time for a break. So I went upstairs to the kitchen to make something for lunch. And I found some bread, turkey, lettuce, and tomato, and I prepared myself a nice sandwich. Well, just when I was about to take a bite, Tony walked in with the man I hate most on earth: Nick Fury.

"Aw, hell no." I said, picking my plate up and starting to head back downstairs. "You never said he was going to be here!"

"Andi, please-"

"No!" I interrupted Tony. "There is no way I'm going to stay in the same room as Colonel Douchebag, you can't make me."

"He wants to talk to you." He tried to reason with me.

"Then let him talk, doesn't mean I'm going to listen." I continued my way down the stairs. I could hear Fury sigh and follow me.

"Andrea," He started but I turned swiftly and hit him square in the face.

"Don't you **dare** call me that." I threatened as he touched his right cheek, surprise covering his face. "There are three people on the planet that are allowed to call me that, and you sir, are most definitely not one of them."

"Okay, okay." He held up his hands. "Andi. I want to talk about that promise you made."

"No." I said simply.

"Whether you like it or not, you are a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. This is the real deal, Andi. There's no more summer projects between school years, there's no more kid's stuff. There's this: I want you to be an agent, like Natasha."

I tensed when he said her name. "I will _never_ be like her."

"Sure you will. All that work you did with, Stryker? So Romanov."

"Strike one." My voice was raw with hate. I clenched my fists, trying to stop myself from teleporting my katanas to slice his head off.

"The strikes again? Come on, Andi, that's for kindergarteners."

"Strike two." I clenched my eyes shut and started to count to ten. It's a new thing I've been working on with Mr. Hawkins to try to control my anger. _One…Two…_

"You know, maybe that's it. Maybe you're too young for this." _Three…Four…_ "I bet that's why you can't seem to hold a family; I wonder how long it's going to take before you run out on the Hawkins'." _FiveSixSevenEightNineTen!_

"Strike three." I said, my katana appeared in my hand and ended up next to his throat before he could even blink. His face was only slightly frightened. "I should kill you where you stand."

"But you won't." That voice, I know that voice.

I turned towards where it resonated from and my heart broke slightly. "What are you doing here, Flash?"

"Making sure you don't do something you'll regret." The red suited man slowly made his way over to us.

"Did you hear what he said to me?" Damn you voice for cracking.

"Yes, and I would be angry too, but he's not worth killing."

"He broke rule number one, Flash. He did it three times in two minutes!" Damn it hand! Stop shaking.

Wally's voice was calm and comforting. "I know, and that was a real dick move on his part. But he isn't worth it. He's Colonel Douchebag, remember?"

"He said I was going to leave the Hawkins'. I would never hurt them!" I pressed the blade further into Fury's skin, just enough to cut him.

"Andi," Flash said more authoritative than before. "Give me the sword. Now." My eyes gave him that look that said, 'Do I have to'. "Give it." I sighed a little, pulled the sword away from Fury's neck, and passed the handle to Wally. Just when Fury thought he was in the clear, Flash put the edge of the blade back onto his neck. "And you mister! I want to apologize right now."

Fury scoffed. "Make me."

Flash got real close to him, keeping the blade on his neck. "I am the fastest man on the planet. If you think I can't kill you and then hide the body in under two seconds, then you are mistaken." I was slightly terrified of Wally, for I had never seen him be so serious before.

Apparently, so was Fury. "I'm sorry." He mumbled.

"Good boy." Flash took the blade away. "Now get out of here, and don't ever bother Andi again."

Fury turned to me. "We will talk."

"Not while I'm here. Now out!" Nick gave him a glare, but left.

I smiled when Wally handed me the sword back. "I knew there was a reason you were my best friend. Oh, ah, question. Why are you here?"

"What I can't come see my best buddy out of my own volition?"

"No." Wally sighed a little and it hit me. "J'onn sent you, didn't he?"

He shook his head. "No."

"It was either him or Bruce, now who was it?"

"Promise you won't hit them or me?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Who was it?"

"It was J'onn."

"I knew it! How long has he been spying on me?"

"Hey, there has been no spying. Ever since that whole 'mind meld' thing between you two he has been able to feel _everything_ that you feel."

My eyes widened. Uh oh. "Everything?"

Wally nodded. "Even that dream you had about, I'm guessing Johnny, a week and a half ago."

"Oh God, you were there?" He nodded. "Was Bruce?" He shook his head and I sighed in relief. "Thank God. Who else was there?"

"It was me, him, and John. Bruce was… …on a date!" That made me smile.

"He went on a date?" Wally nodded. "With who?"

"Diana."

"Aw, that's adorable. How'd it go?"

Wally's face broke out in a grin. "Well they were both smiling when they got back…" He trailed off and couldn't help but squee.

"Brucie!" My smiled reached my ears. "Wait. That's totally off topic. What happened when J'onn felt my dream?"

"Well, we were all sitting in the cafeteria, having a coffee, and he got this weird look on his face. He looked very confused, and he actually started to blush. After a few moments he understood what was going on, and didn't even excuse himself as he shuffled away. John and I were very confused, so I went down to your house – well, the Hawkins house – to see if you were having the same problems he was…" Wally trailed off.

I sighed and closed my eyes tight, willing him to not complete his sentence. Unfortunately, my will was not strong enough.

"…You were…"

"You didn't tell John, did you?" He shook his head. I was silent for a moment before I asked, "How much does J'onn know?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure. He seemed fine the next day though."

"ER! Stupid teenage hormones. You know how my life has really sucky up until now? It's officially the worse that it's ever been." I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "So how long are you here for?"

"How long do you want me to stay? I'm on vacation."

I chuckled sarcastically. "If you call spying on me for J'onn a vacation, you need help."

He scoffed at me. "I need help? Look at you: you spend the summer of your sophomore year getting experimented on, meeting the love of your life, fighting a war, winning a war, and losing said love of your life; you spend the summer of your junior year hanging out with a bunch of villains, befriending a mercenary and an entire school of mutants; and your spending your last summer before college cooped up in a lab trying to invent something that could literally change the world. And I need a vacation? Are you sure?"

Okay, he had a point. "I promise, after this thing is over, I will take a vacation."

"Uh huh," Flash said as I looked around us, confusion written on my face. "Just like Bruce says he will."

"Oh that bastard!" I yelled as I threw my fist down and hit the desk.

"What? What's the matter?"

"He stole my sandwich!" Damn that Nick Fury. "FUUURRRYYY!"


	3. Chapter 3

"ANDIANDIANDIANDIANDI!" Wally ran down to the lab at a normal speed, dressed as a normal person, no fear of exposure anywhere.

"What? What? What? What? What?" I answered whilst sketching a design for the bracelet.

"You have to come upstairs, like right now." He grabbed my hand and started to drag me up the stairs, slightly faster than normal to make up for the extra weight.

"Why?" I whined, stumbling through numerous pizza boxes and red plastic cups.

"Because you need to see this." He brought me into the living room and placed me in front of the glass door to the balcony.

"Oh…my…word." I squinted my eyes, trying to get a closer look. "Am I really seeing this?"

"Yep."

I shook my head. "You know how I said my life has been sucky so far?"

"Yeah…"

"This has made it so much better." I clamped my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing, Wally mimicking me. "Come on." I mumbled, grabbing his arm taking him away from the door, laughter almost spilling out over the whole living room.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Oh my God." I laughed when we got back down to the lab. "You have no idea how happy this makes me."

"I told you!" Wally pointed a finger at me with a grin.

When I finally composed myself a little, I said, "I knew California was going to be great."

"You have no idea. Tonight, I am taking you out on the town. You are legal, right?"

I gave him a haughty chuckle. "You are _not_ pimping me out, mister."

"That's right." He teased slightly. "You are a one man woman."

"Depends on the day. Some days I can't stand anyone."

He nodded. "Everyone has those days." Then something sparked in his eyes, but it wasn't his usual fun spark.

"You alright, Wally?"

"Yeah." Liar.

"You're having one of those days, aren't you?"

"No," He laughed slightly. "I've just been thinking."

"Uh oh."

"It's nothing bad; I just…don't know what to do anymore."

I got up from my chair and moved closer to him. "What's the matter, Polly–Wally?"

"It's Linda." He sighed. "I-I want to tell her about the Flash, I just don't really know how, or if I should, you know?"

My chocolate brown eyes met with his emerald green ones. "Do you love her?"

"Yes." He said without even thinking about it.

I gave him a little smile. "Then tell her."

"But how? If I just lay it on her she'll freak." Oh, poor Wally.

Wally had a point; Linda had a tendency to freak out. "Then leave her subtle hints, she's a reporter, she'll figure it out." Yeah… …she'd figure it out.

"How are you so smart?"

I shrugged, my smile growing. "I don't know. I blame Bruce."

He laughed, and his eyes shifted towards the stairs and he couldn't help but laugh harder. I turned towards the door, and I started laughing too.

"What's going on down here? You guys sound like you're having a slumber party." A disgruntled Tony made his way slowly down the stairs.

"We're just talking." I choked on my laughter. Wally gave me that look, and I nodded. He disappeared for a second, and reappeared with something in his hands.

"Whoa." Tony shook his head like he was trying to clear it up. "That was rad."

"What exactly happened last night, Tony?"

He got this concerned look in his eyes. "Why?"

"Look down." I averted my eyes when he finally realized that, true to his name, he was stark naked.

"Oh, boy." He looked down and then back up at me. "Strangely enough, this isn't the worst thing that's ever happened to me."

"I believe it."

"Here, dude." Wally threw the object over to Tony. "I found these on the television this morning on top of some pizza slices. However, your under-garments were in the garbage disposal…" He trailed off.

Tony nodded in understanding. "That's happened before." I turned away completely as he put on his pants.

"That's not surprising." Oh Tony, what am I going to do with you? "You know, Tony, there was a time when I would have sworn that you and Bruce were the same person, but now I know that's not true."

"Oh really? And why's that?" And there's the zipper.

I gave him a smile. "You party harder." I pulled off one of the many hoodies that I stole from Wally, or Bruce, or Virgil or someone. "Put a shirt on." I threw it over to him.

"What? You don't want any of this?" He showed off his chest.

"Puh-lease. I'm more of a blonde or ginger kind of gal. Brunettes just don't tickle my fancy." I grinned at Wally, and he started laughing again.

"I like brunettes, Tony." Wally said.

He pointed at Wally in pride. "I knew I liked you." And he turned to me. "You. You're here to use the lab. Get back to work."

"I am not your employee, Mr. Stark."

"You are indirectly. Now chop chop!"

Why should I be the only one getting yelled at? "What about Wally? He's just sitting there."

Tony got this small smile on his face. "I like gingers too." And he went back upstairs without another word.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"It's not going to work."

"Let's just try, ma'am."

"I'm telling you, it's not going to work. If those two wires touch, the entire thing will short circuit."

"I helped build the gun, I should know-"

"Well I took it apart!" I yelled at the stupid robot. "And I know it better than you!"

JARVIS actually sounded flabbergasted. "How dare you-?"

"PLAY NICE!" Tony shouted from the intercom. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TWO!"

"HE'S UNDERMINING MY AUTHORITY!"

"She's not listening to my suggestions."

"Do **not** make me pull this car over!" Tony exclaimed. "If you two don't start getting along, I will be supervising down there!" He threatened.

"He's the one that's being unreasonable!"

"No, she is!"

And then an unexpected voice chimed in. "SHUT. UP!" Wally yelled from the couch. "Dear God, all you guys do is yell and argue! Andi, he's a computer! Maybe you should listen to him every now and then. And JARVIS, Andi is part of this project, you need to let her make some decisions on her own. Come on, this is Kindergarten 101."

I smirked, but I'm not sure why. "I never went to Kindergarten."

"You should still know about sharing." He leapt off the couch and headed for the stairs. "I mean, even Bruce knows how to share."

"Not well." I mumbled after him.

Before I knew it, Wally was at my ear. "He at least shares his toys with us." Damn it, I smiled. "Atta girl. Please share." In less than a second, he was gone, probably to get another large pizza. Like we needed another pizza box in this house.


	4. Chapter 4

_Bang…Bang…Bang…_

My head bashed against the wall repeatedly. I couldn't stand this anymore. I've been cooped up in this basement for days now, and I still haven't gotten anything accomplished. I haven't even come up with a good design. I. Am. So. Screwed.

"Are you okay?" Miss Potts asked as she came down stairs for the first time since I arrived here.

I stopped banging my head and turned to her. My eyes had dark bags under them, my hair dry and flat, and my skin grey. "Do I look okay to you?"

She shook her head hesitantly. "Not really."

"Then there you go."

She looked around awkwardly. "You're looking a little, grey-ish."

"I haven't left this basement in almost a week. My Vitamin D meter is bone dry."

She came a few steps closer to me. "Is there anything I can help with?"

I sat back in my chair and thought for a second. "Is Tony in the house?"

Pepper shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"Good." I let a breath and teleported upstairs. I pulled out my cell phone and hit speed dial number one. "Hey, it's Andi. Look, I need some help here… …yeah I have some…alright." I hung up, waved my hand, and a tall man appeared from a random gust of wind.

"You know, I don't remember ever agreeing to be at your beck and call." Lucius Fox calmly walked towards me.

I smiled at him. "You said that if I ever needed you…" I trailed off.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Could you not do that while I'm here, please?" Pepper asked as she walked up the stairs. "I hate it when Tony leaves me stranded like that, so could you refrain?"

"I'll try. Miss Potts, you remember Mr. Fox."

They shook hands. "It's nice to see you again."

"Likewise."

And then she turned to me. "Why is he here?"

"Because I need a break, and he's the only one, that I know of, that can help me unconsciously." And then my mind flashed to J'onn. "Yeah, he's it." I am _not_ going down _that_ rabbit hole again.

"So," He gracefully moved over to the table that I led him to when Pepper's phone started ringing and she left to answer it. "What's the matter?"

I left him at the table and went over to the cupboard above the sink. "I'm at a loss, Mr. Fox."

"You're going to have to be more specific."

"My brain has decided to stop working, and I can't think of how to extract the stupid 'unobtanium' stuff without hurting myself. And yes I know I'll eventually get better, but I would like to wrap this up quickly so that I can have some sort of a summer vacation before I have absolutely no life. I know, I never had a life to begin with, but it would be nice to spend a little time with the 'fam' before college." I took a deep breath. Was that one sentence?

"Again, I am so sorry."

"Oh shut it, I never blamed you." I placed a package of double stuffed Oreos on the table and sat across from him.

He raised his eyebrow. "I didn't think you liked cookies."

I shrugged. "I've been having this weird craving for Oreos lately." I opened the package and took a couple from it. "I don't know why. Maybe it's this place."

Mr. Fox smirked as if he knew better. "Yeah, maybe it's this place."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"This isn't exactly honest, J'onn." Flash said to the tall Martian Manhunter earlier that day. He had told Andi that Linda had called him for a small vacation while she was in France. Linda was in Chicago.

"I understand this, Flash." J'onn moved about the control room, keeping track of the whereabouts of all of the members of the Justice League. Most of them were in the Watch Tower, except for Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and a few of the younger generation. "But I made a promise to Bruce."

"She's not a fish, J'onn. You can't just watch her all of the time."

He turned abruptly towards Flash, towering over him. "I have to. If I hadn't have been watching she would've killed that man and you know it."

J'onn turned away, and Flash mumbled. "I would've let her."

"How **dare** you say that?" J'onn was once again in Flash's face.

Even though J'onn was very intimidating, Flash held his own. "Aside from Bruce, Andi doesn't love anyone more than the Hawkins family. For that…fuck-tard…to even suggest that she'd run away from them–"

But J'onn came right back at him. "She ran from Bruce, didn't she? From Alfred Pennyworth? From Johnny? From us?" Wally felt like he got slapped in the face. "She's not the little girl that you saved from the train station, or the ignorant teenager that you saved from the fire. She's grown to understand that running away is always the best option when things become difficult. The first fight she has with Robert and she'll flee like a jail bird."

Flash was quiet for a moment, waiting to see if J'onn continued. When he didn't, he whispered with raw anger. "How can you say that about her? You love Andi more than anyone."

"Even so. Her and I fought, and she'll probably never talk to me again."

"But you don't care. You just want her safe. Just like Bruce, and Robert, and the rest of us. We don't care that she runs," He paused for dramatic effect. "Because she always comes back."

Flash turned and started to walk away when he rotated on his heel back towards J'onn. "Oh, and would you stop thinking about Oreos. She has had an entire package of Double Stuffed Oreos every day since I've been there. You of all people should know that she doesn't even like cookies."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Hey, Wally." I said later that night as I lounged on the downstairs couch while he sped down the stairs. "How was France?"

He nodded and took a seat next to me. "Pretty. He was your day without me, dear?"

I smiled. "Boring. Oreo?" I held out the package for him to take some.

Wally stared at it for a second before he shook his head. "No, thanks. Did you get anything done today?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Not a damn thing."

"That sucks."

"Yep." I popped another Oreo into my mouth. "How's Linda?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full. And she's good. She says, 'hi'."

I swallowed the chewed up cookie. "Tell her I say, 'hi' back."

"I shall, the next time I see her."

I perked up slightly in surprise. "You're staying?"

Wally nodded. "Yuperdoodles."

I immediately leaned over and hugged him. "Thanks, Wally."

"Anytime." He embraced me in return. She'd never run from me, Wally thought, that I'm certain of.


	5. Chapter 5

"Steady, steady…" Wally warned me a week later as I held the 'unobtanium' container in my hand, about to pour it into another container.

"I know," I took a deep breath in and slowly poured it from the original container of the gun, to a glass beaker. Once it was empty, I let out that air in my lungs and relaxed. "Alright. That's one." I turned to Wally. "Are you absolutely sure about this?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"But this could hurt you severely, and I won't be able to heal you like normal."

"I already told you, Andi. I'm going to do this." His green eyes bore into my chocolate ones.

"Alright, but if Linda yells at me, I am so blaming it on you." He chuckled slightly. I took an eye dropper from one of the drawers under the counter downstairs. I pinched it, and took about three droplets from the beaker. "Give me your hand."

Wally obliged and held his bare hand out. I squeezed the liquid out, and all three drops fell onto his palm. Immediately, a small hole began burning its way through his flesh.

"OH GOD!" He groaned as part of his palm began deteriorating. He grasped his own wrist and forced it down to the table, not wanting any air movement making it sting.

I stood there, watching him writhe in pain, trying to come up with an idea. Any idea. "Wally? Can I try something?"

"Only if it takes away the pain." He hissed through clenched teeth.

Without a second thought, I bit my finger hard enough to make it bleed. I forced two or three drops of blood out of my right ring finger into the hole. Seconds later, his pain had subsided, and the hole was healing. Wally stared at his hand, absolutely fascinated at the sight of the hole sewing itself up.

Okay, approach him gently. "Wally?"

"What?" He cradled his hand, lightly pressing the place where the hole once existed.

"I'm really, really sorry."

"I know." He mumbled.

"I'm not going to do anything else to you, I promise." I hugged him, and he sighed in relief as he hugged me back.

"How do you do it, Andi?" Wally asked, keeping me close to him. "How do you handle all the pain, all the time?"

I shrugged. "You kind of get used to it after a while." He looked slightly confused, so I digressed some. "I mean, I'm not surprised anymore when I get shot, or stabbed, or things like that. Yeah I still feel it…I'm just so used to it happening that I really don't care anymore."

"So," Wally started; that glint returning. "If I took this pen," He grabbed one of the click-e pens from the desk and twirled it around between his fingers. "and jabbed it right into your arm, you wouldn't care?"

I shook my head as I prepared another solution. "Probably not."

Wally smirked as he looked at his once injured hand and flexed it for me. "See, now _that's_ interesting."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

_The skittles were all mixed in the Christmas themed glass dish. It's March. Under that dish was dark brown coffee table with a glass top. On the floor was the ugliest beige rug I had ever seen, and I've seen quite a few of them. The worst part of all: was that _everything_ matched. The walls, the sofas, the two chairs, the rug on the stairs, the entire living room (and probably the whole house) was that dark brown and beige. The sad thing is, this isn't the first home I've been to that's had this exact color scheme._

_"Are you excited to move in, Andi?" The man across from me grabbed his wife's hand and smiled._

_"So excited."I put on a fake smile and they raved._

_"Fantastic. Molly," He turned to his wife. "Why don't you show Andi around the house, and I'll take care of the paperwork?"_

_She smiled brightly. "Of course." She stood up, came over to the other sofa, and held her hand out for me. "Just wait until you see your room."_

_I reluctantly took it, and was led upstairs, leaving the voices of Mr. Parrish and the Social Worker behind. "Is my room white, too?" I asked innocently while we walked down the hall._

_She chuckled. "Well, it is right now, but we can always paint it if you want. Maybe a nice chocolate color." Molly mused when she opened the door._

_My mouth dropped. The entire room was white: The bed post, the sheets, curtains, carpet, walls, dresser, etc. What is the matter with these people? Do they not know of any other colors?_

_"Well? What do you think?" She asked._

_"Awesome." I hate these people. I can't live with them. How is it that the only color is a bowl of skittles? As soon as that bowl is empty, I'm out of here. I don't care what that stupid Social Worker says, I can take care of myself._

_Molly knelt down next to me. "What's your favorite color?"_

_I hadn't really thought about it before. I've always worn what people have bought me, regardless of color. I looked down at the sweater I was currently wearing, "Green."_

_Her face lit up. "Green goes great with brown! Oh, as soon as we get you moved in I am going to create the greatest color pallet…" She trailed off with a smile on her face, because her husband and the Social Worker appeared in the doorway. _

_"I hope you don't mind, but I brought your bag in from the car." Mr. Parrish set it down in front of the dresser. He smiled that very preppy smiled that Lance always told me to beware of._

_I shrugged, crossing my arms over my chest. "I-I could've gotten it."_

_"Hey," He knelt down in front of me and touched my shoulder. "We're going to care of you here. Don't worry."_

_I'm worried. "I don't like being touched." I whispered and he took his hand from my shoulder._

_"Do you like hugs?" Holly asked. "We are a hugging family."_

_I shook my head. "No."_

_"What about sleepovers? Because as soon as you make some friends you can have sleepovers."_

_"No." I responded in the same monotonous tone._

_They looked at each other in question. "What do you like to do, Andi?" Mr. Parrish asked._

_Lance asked me that once…I didn't have an answer. "You don't want to know."_

_"Of course we do."_

_Just tell them what Lance taught you. "I like to run." That made everyone smile._

_"Well that's not a bad thing. When you get older you can join the track team." Everyone laughed, everyone was happy._

_"Andi," Holly said with a large smile. "Welcome Home."_

_Maybe for the next week or so, but there is no way in hell that I'm staying any longer than that._

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

My eyes opened, I took large breath through my nose, and I was awake. I was sitting at the desk, my head resting on my fist, my arm holding my head up. I looked around, my mind slowly becoming aware of my surroundings.

"What time is it? Fuck, how long have I been out?" I said to myself as I rubbed my eyes.

"A while. You know you talk in your sleep?" I spun the wheelie chair around and groaned.

"I thought Flash told you to leave." If he starts preaching to me again, I'm going to flip.

Fury stood up from the couch in front of the television and came over to the desk.

"Flash isn't here right now. And it's time for us to talk."

"Dude, I'm really tired, can we do this another time?"

He sighed. "Actually, we can't. Look, we both know that you're not going to get anywhere with that hunk of metal without S.H.I.E.L.D. So why don't you let us help you out."

"No."

"Why not? I don't understand why you hate us so much? You're just like us."

I shook my head. "I'm nothing like you. Your little agency is made up of people who have nowhere else to go. I have a family, and a 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' of my own which is made up people that I actually trust and get along with. Why would I ever be your employee when I can be theirs?"

"Because I can cure you. I have the resources to take away your mutation."

_He's lying_ echoed in my head.

"You're lying."

"Am I? That liquid there-"

"I call it Cutonium."

"Fine. That 'Cutonium' is the secret. But I guess you already knew that."

"Of course I did. Do I look stupid to you?"

"You look young."

"Young isn't a synonym for stupid."

"Whatever. All I'm saying is that you should let us help."

"I'm sorry, I've already promised my services to another company. You can try again next century though." I added a little smile at the end.

Fury sighed and headed for the stairs. "Don't come crying to me when you fail."

"I **don't** fail."


	6. Chapter 6

"Where the hell are you?" Tony asked his cell phone a few days later. He was currently standing in his house, staring at an Andiless basement.

"I needed a break, and a walk seemed like the perfect idea." I answered my phone while I ambled down the streets of Malibu.

"You do realize that you have work to do, right?"

"Everybody needs a break sometime."

"We don't take breaks, Andi, we're always working."

Maybe he is just like Bruce. "You know, Tony, you'll go nuts if you stay on this path."

"Halfway there, Andi. I'm already halfway there." I could hear the smile in his voice.

I smirked in return. "Join the club, we have jackets."

"Leather?"

I scoffed. "Of course. Think about it: a club filled with rich kids. No duh we're going to have leather." He was laughing on the other end of the line. "You're laughing. So, I'm going to guess that I'm off the hook?"

He let out a large breath and thought for a second. "Fine. But be back in ten minutes."

"What is with you and wanting me to get back to work?"

"Because you're not going to get anything done by taking breaks."

"I'm not going to get anything done by being cooped up. I'm a free bird, Tony, you gotta let me fly."

He spoke with a smile again. "I'm guessing I can't change this bird."

I chuckled. "Lord knows, I can't change."

Tony laughed a little. "Ten minutes."

"Fifteen." And I hung up my phone. I took in the fresh air and sunshine. This place was much better than Gotham, or even Dakota for that matter. It wasn't cloudy here, and the air was clean. It was so peaceful. I kept ambling down the boardwalk, looking at the all of the families smiling, riding the Ferris wheel, and playing the games. This place was amazing. So amazing, that I could stay here forever.

"Hey, Chica." A 'sultry' voice said from an alley next to one of the ring toss stands.

Marlon Brando not again. I turned towards the alley and slugged my way over to the dark and shady place. "What?"

"You look sad." With a smile on my face? "You want to be happy?"

Not again. "No thanks." I shook my head.

"You sure?" The guy came out of the shadows slightly. He was tall, pale, red hair, black eyes, and wearing dark colored baggy clothing. C. R. E. E. P. E. R. "The ladies say I make them very happy."

So he was _that_ kind of dealer. "You're a gigolo?" I raised my eyebrow. There are few things in my life that I haven't seen before, this was one of them.

He shook his head. "No. They just love them some B-Rye."

"Please tell me your mother didn't give you that name."

"B-Rye named hisself." He stalked towards me, looking me up and down. "I could name you too."

"I've already been named."

"And what would that be, Sweetheart?" He pursed his lips.

I scoffed. "Like I would tell you, Fuckface."

B-Rye's face dropped. "That wasn't nice."

Oh. Shit. B-Rye came at me, and shoved me against the wall, his arm pinned my shoulders and he planted his leg between mine. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

He leaned in and whispered in my ear. "You need to learn some manners." And he attacked my neck, kissing and nipping.

I was literally frozen in fear. Me! The girl that can fight a fucking army, as well as outsmart one of the world's biggest villains, is scared of one man. I just stood there and took his molestation. What the fuck is wrong with me?

Not a moment later, B-Rye was ripped off of me, and thrown at the wall parallel. His head hit with a loud _thunk_ against the brick wall of the dart game stand. Before he even fell to the ground, he was thrown again, this time down the alleyway, until he hit the billboard that connected the stands. Thirty seconds had gone by in total…what the fuck just happened?

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Fury visited her again, last night." J'onn said to both Wally and Bruce in the cafeteria of the Watch Tower. They had met for breakfast to basically discuss my life.

Wally's eyes flared. "That bastard! I leave her alone for one moment and he snakes his way in! Oh I'm going to kill-"

"Wally," Bruce said with his eyes closed, and his right index finger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose. "Shut up. There will be no talk of murder at the breakfast table." He opened his eyes and folded his hands together. "Keep an eye on her. If that douchebag abrades her enough, she'll give in."

"She said, 'no' to him." J'onn informed. "In a very 'Andi' fashion."

Wally shook his head. "I shouldn't have left her. She's probably going crazy cooped up in that basement alone."

"She's not in the basement."

"Fine, the house."

"Andi's taking a walk down one of the piers." J'onn actually smiled a little. "She's arguing with Tony about work."

Bruce unfolded his hands and traced a circle on the table with one of his middle fingers. "She's a good kid, right? She's being a good citizen?"

"Of course she is." J'onn sounded slightly offended. "Andrea is a fantastic kid. And for _you_ to even consider otherwise astounds me."

"I was just making sure." His tracing started to slow down. "I don't get to see her as much anymore."

Wally gave Bruce a small pat on the shoulder. "She misses you too. You should stop by; it would really brighten her day."

"I might." He finally took a sip from his cooling coffee.

J'onn got this far off look on his face, and it slowly morphed into a concerned one.

"J'onn?" Wally noticed first. "You alright buddy?"

"J'onn? Hey, J'onn." Bruce waved a hand in front of his face, and he was still frozen. "J'onn!"

He slid out of his chair quickly. "I've got to go."

"Where're you going?" Wally shouted.

"J'onn!" Bruce called, both him and Wally so very confused at what transpired.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

_J'onn's POV_

I flew as fast as I could, praying that I would make it on time. Hold on Andi, I'm on my way. I looked around the pier, intangible of course. Where is she, where is she? There, next to the ring toss. I'm going to kill that little fucker for touching her. Listen to me, I'm sounding just like her.

The second I got there, I grabbed that pervert's collar and threw him against the brick wall. Before he had a second to absorb what happened, I snatched him up again, and sent him down the alley into the billboard. He's getting off light.

I looked over at her, still intangible. She looks freaked. This should be routine by now. I sighed, she should know. I became tangible, and Andi, of course, freaked out.

She launched herself at me and latched onto my neck. "Thank you, J'onn. Oh God, thank you."

…Okay. That wasn't what I was expecting.


	7. Chapter 7

"Are you alright?" J'onn asked, us still standing in the alley.

I just nodded my head in the crook of his neck. I was still clinging to him for dear life, acting like that if I let go, I would surely die.

Reluctantly, he raised his arms and wrapped them around me. 'I'm so glad you're okay.' He thought, sighing slightly in relief.

"I'm…I'm..." I murmured, not quite finishing my sentence.

"Hey! Hey let go of her!" A random stranger yelled as he stalked toward the alley.

The moment I heard that, I let go of J'onn, and met the man face to face. "Back off before I make you off." My voice was raw, and I'm pretty sure frightened the poor guy.

"I was just trying to help-"

"Don't. Because I'm a thousand times safer with him than I am with you." He just stood there frozen because he had no idea what to do. "This is where you walk away." When he stayed in place, I physically turned him around and pushed him away.

"That wasn't necessary." J'onn said, shaking his head at my forcefulness.

"Of course it was." I tried to reason with him. "And J'onn, I'm-"

A small smile appeared on his face. "You don't have to say it, Andi."

"But I want to. I'm really sorry, J'onn. I never should have gotten upset with you, because you were just protecting me. And now I understand that you'll never stop protecting me, even if we haven't talked for a year." I barely chuckled. "You're always going to be there for me, aren't you?"

"If you want me to be, I shall."

I smiled. "I would be honored."

This time, J'onn was the one that hugged me. "I missed you."

I have to admit, I got a little teary eyed. "You shouldn't say that." I lightly joked. "A hundred years from now you're going to be sick of me." I teased.

"Never." I heard the smile in his voice.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"You guys made up!" Wally cheered when he saw J'onn and I appear. J'onn set me down and Wally ran at us. "Group hug!"

After a few seconds, I said, "Wally, I think we're good."

He shook his head. "Nope, a little longer."

A few more seconds later, "Wally." J'onn warned.

"Yeah, we're good." He said sheepishly as he let us go. "I'm very happy for you both." He said monotonously.

"Don't sound so excited, Wally."

"Well I _tried_ to sound excited, but you guys-"

I smiled and shook my head. "Let it go, Wally. Let it go."

"So when did this happen?"

J'onn raised an eyebrow. "When did what happen?"

"This! When did you guys make up? How? WHY!" He was starting to get hysterical.

"About five minutes ago, I was in danger-"

"You get in that a lot don't you?"

"Yeah, we know…Right, I was in danger, and J'onn came to save me. End of story."

He was about to call my semi-bluff, when a screech came from upstairs. "Wallace Rudolph West!"

My mouth was agape as I shook my head. "You didn't."

"I had to!" He defended himself.

I pointed a finger at him accusingly. "You are in such big trouble." I turned my head slightly. "J'onn you have to change. I don't care into what, but you have to change."

"Wallace!"

"Now, J'onn!"

"There you are!" Linda Park stomped down the stairs seconds later. "Where have you been?" Her green dress shirt was clashing with her red face. "Hey, Andi."

"Hi, Linda."

She stopped her rampage and stared at J'onn. "Have we met?"

'Tony' looked back at her and gave her a small smile. "No. I'm Tony Stark." He extended his hand and she shook it.

"Linda Park." After the handshake concluded, she turned back to Wally. "Wallace, why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He mumbled.

Her face blended into an even deeper shade of red. "I found something under our bed this morning."

Wally grew pale. "Oh?"

Linda pulled out his spare Flash mask. "Care to explain this, Wally? Or should I just call you Flash?"

Wally was frozen; he had no idea how to deal with this.

"Actually, Linda," I interjected. Oh stupid, stupid,** stupid**, Andi. "That's mine."

She turned to me and raised an eyebrow. "This is _your_ mask?"

"Yes."

She shook her head. "If this is your mask, then why is the Flash that I often interview a man and not a woman?"

Good question. "I have this hologram watch. I can look like anybody with just a touch of a button." I put my arm behind my back, and teleported that little present Xavier gave me last year into my hand.

Linda crossed her arms over her chest. "Prove it."

I pulled the watch out, fastened it to my wrist, pushed a few buttons, and ended up a foot taller with flaming red hair atop my head. "See?" I even mimicked Wally's voice.

"You used his face?" And now she's upset.

"Yes."

"Did you even consider what would happen if his identity got out?"

"I didn't-"

"No." She said sternly. "You didn't." Linda threw the mask at me. "Stay away from him."

"Linda," Wally started gaining some of his confidence back.

But she blew up at him. "No, Wally! Do you know what could've happened to you if she was unmasked while looking like that? Your-"

"It's my mask, Linda!" He finally shouted at her. "It's MINE! I'm the Flash!"

She gave him a hard stare. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I was afraid you'd react like this!" Wally yelled.

"Act like what?" Linda screamed back.

"Like you're on crazy pills or something! You've never gotten angry at the Flash for doing something dangerous, a little annoyed, yes, but never mad."

"Well up until now, the Flash wasn't my husband! Nor did he spend all of his time away from his wife with a young girl!" She turned to me, finding that I had gone back to my original appearance.

"I'm nineteen Linda. Girl, yes. But young?" I shook my head a little. "Not so much."

"Stay out of this!" They both yelled at me.

I rolled my eyes and turned to 'Tony'. "You want some Oreos?"

J'onn shrugged and nodded his head. "Sure."

I led him upstairs, leaving the 'happy couple' to bicker between themselves.


	8. Chapter 8

When we reached the ground floor, we were met by a familiar looking man.

"Hello Andi; J'onn J'onzz."

"Who are you?" J'onn threatened, morphing back into his usual physique.

I stared at him in disbelief. "Natiecakes?"

"Natiecakes?" The man and J'onn said at the same time, J'onn was more angry than confused, while the man was more confused.

I pointed an accusing finger at him as I was remembering. "You, you're Nate Summers." My mouth fell agape. "You're Scott's kid!"

"How do you know who I am?"

"Yeah," J'onn agreed. "How _do_ you know?"

I smiled slightly. "He told me a couple years ago."

Nate's eyebrows furrowed. "How do you remember that? I wiped your mind."

"You wiped her mind?" J'onn's eyes shone dangerously red, ready to pounce on Nate, but I held his arm.

"He obviously didn't do a good job," I tried to reason with him. "I mean, I remember him and everything."

"Everything?" Nate asked.

"I…" I trailed off. "I think so… …Maybe." My eyes got a little shifty when I changed the subject. "What do you want anyway?"

"Something's wrong with Anita."

"Who's Anita?" J'onn asked.

I, however, completely evaded his question. "What's the matter with her?" Stop sounding so urgent! I yelled at myself, it's not like she's not your kid.

"She's dying."

"Who's Anita?" J'onn demanded.

"Johnny's kid." I said, my eyes never moving from Nate's. "Why aren't you talking to him about this?"

"Because he's not going to find out, and neither will anyone else, save for the three of us."

"And why isn't he going to find out?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

Nate's face fell into an, 'uh-oh' look. "Because her powers are what's killing her. If he finds that out, he'll never want anything to do with his powers ever again." He said nervously.

That can't happen. He can't stop being Human Torch; what would the world be like without him? "What's your plan?"

"I'm going to take her out of existence. Aside from us, no one will remember she existed."

"Why will we remember?" J'onn asked.

"Originally, it would only be you, J'onn, which would feel the rift that's going to happen. But since your 'mind melding', Andi will feel it too."

"Xavier won't feel it?"

Nate shook his head. "No. He's only a telepath."

"Oh, _only_." I replied sarcastically and rolled my eyes. "What are you going to do to her?"

"I'm not going to do it, per se…"

One of my katanas appeared in my hand. "If you don't give me a straight answer, I swear to Henry VIII I will cut your head off."

Nate stared at me with cold blue eyes. "No you won't. You love Johnny more than anything, and you would do anything to keep from hurting him. Taking Anita away is the best thing for him, you know that Andi. You have to trust me; he won't even know she's gone."

My knuckles turned white as I gripped the handle of the sword tighter. He was just another person telling me what to do. "Oh, fuck off. I don't _have_ to do anything." I growled. "I am sick and tired of you people telling me what I 'have' to do." Swiftly, I put the edge of the blade on his neck. "You do what you have to do, take Anita, fix her, bring her back, all that's fine. But when you go back, you tell future me to leave past me the fuck alone. Tell her, that I want to start living normally, and that means I don't want any more visits from you, or Hannibal, or Wade…"

"Wade? When did you see Wade?" Nate squinted his eyes suspiciously.

My eyes shifted slightly to the right. "A long time ago. But I didn't know it was him until we met last year." I became kind of pouty. "I miss Wade."

"Why haven't you been telling me about these visits?" J'onn questioned me, offended.

"Because the only important one was Wade's, and I will never speak it." I lifted the blade from Nate's neck. "You relay the message, and if I see your or anyone else's ugly mug outside of your time again, I am going to be **so** pissed!"

Nate sighed and smiled only a small grin. "This is going to be a fun trip." He said sarcastically.

"I always make things fun." I replied, also sarcastically. "Now get out of here before I change my mind."

Nate pushed a little button on his belt, and he disappeared.

"Well, look at you." J'onn said, almost in a proud like manner.

I turned and stared at him. "What?"

"You've really grown up. I mean, you can take on all this, pardon my French, bullshit that future you keeps sending, you can stare it in the face, and literally tell it to 'fuck off'." I had this shocked look on my face. Had J'onn really just said, 'fuck'?

"And?"

"And? And most people wouldn't be able to handle it, let alone tell it off." His smile grew somewhat larger. "You know, you were right: you don't need me."

My face fell. "What?" I whimpered.

"You don't need me anymore. Don't worry," He tried to reassure me. "I'll still be here for you, just not with you."

"But what if I need you?" Why am I so desperate?

"I'm just a thought away." He gave a sad smile. "You're on your own, kid." And he flew away. That was the second time that month I was left alone, with those words hanging over my head.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Linda! LINDA!" I heard Wally shout a few seconds later. What the hell was happening down there? "We're! Done!"

What? I ran towards the stairs to eavesdrop. "…I can't believe I wasted my time with you! Two years we've been together, and you're throwing everything away because of the Flash? I don't even know you anymore!" Linda shrieked, running up the stairs with tears streaming down her face.

"Hey, Linda-" I tried to talk to her in a calm fashion.

"Stay away from me!" She shouted, stalking out of the mansion.

I groaned. Couldn't things just go smoothly for once? "Wally!" I stomped down the stairs to tell the stupid ginger off. "What is the matter-" I stopped. Wally wasn't anywhere to be found.


	9. Chapter 9

"So," Tony said awkwardly as him and I sat at the table in the kitchen. "This is the answer you're looking for?"

I nodded. "It was right under my nose the whole time. I never thought about it till Linda showed up."

"Linda?"

I shook my head. "Never mind."

"You don't seem very happy about it."

"Why would I be?" I fiddled with the small gadget lying on the table.

"You got what you wanted, you figured out how to help that girl. Why wouldn't you be happy?" His head tilted to the right in question.

"I have to take this apart." I held up the watch. "I liked this watch." I stared at the gift from Xavier fondly.

"Does it do something special?" He took it from my hand and began examining it.

"It's a hologram watch. You can type in different codes and look like anyone. I used it this past school year to hide my leaves. For the first time in my life, I was able to wear a short sleeved shirt in public, and let me tell you, it felt amazing." Alright now, stop being sentimental.

"I'm sure I can make you one." Tony offered, handing the watch back.

I shook my head. "I'll be fine. I've had my 'fifteen minutes', as they say." I placed the watch back on the table, and gave Tony a serious stare. "What's it like? Being out of the superhero closet?"

He chuckled and nodded. "It has its ups and downs. People are always recognizing me on the streets, and sometimes you get the occasional crazy who believes they are your best friend and they become your stalker, and then it gets weird."

"Are you glad that you told everybody?"

He nodded again. "Yeah. It lets me be myself. And you know how much I love being that."

I chuckled. "Do think I should do that?"

Tony was quiet for a minute before he said. "No. You're too free. If your little secret ever got out, you'd be trapped. And you'd be putting Bruce, Virgil, and everyone who doesn't want their identity out in danger." When he saw my saddened face, he tried to make up for it. "Basically, you know too many people now. If you didn't, it would be a different story. But since you seem to get under everybody's skin, unintentionally of course, you have to keep hiding."

I sighed. "Well don't I just suck at life."

Tony scoffed. "Hardly. You actually succeed at life, too well, in fact."

"You know," I grabbed the watch and stood up. "You're a great big brother."

"Too bad we're not related." I chuckled. "You mind if I help?"

"Sure. It'll give us bonding time." I smiled, and he returned it as we made our way to the lab.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Wally… …come on, Wally, pick up… …schist." I hung up and typed his phone number into the computer again. I hit the 'call' button, and stared at his number and the jiggling telephone on the large screen down in the lab.

It rang once…twice…three times…four times…and it said, "Hey, it's Wally. If I don't answer I'm probably doing something important or nothing at all. Leave your number and I'll see how I feel about getting back to you."

"Wally, if you don't pick up this phone I swear I will come after you, and I will _not_ be happy when I see you." I threatened his answering machine. After waiting a few more seconds, I hung up.

"Any luck?" Tony asked. He was sitting next to me in the lab.

I shook my head. "No. I'm going to pop over to his place, see if I can find him."

"Maybe he just wants to be alone." Tony suggested.

"If he wanted to be alone, he would've picked up and said so. He's not there, nor does he have his cell phone on him." I sighed. "This worries me Tony. Wally is not an _aonaran_."

Tony raised his eyebrow with a dumb look on his face. "A what?"

"Never mind. Look, I just have to find him. I call if I do."

"If?"

"If Wally doesn't want to be found, he won't be. Which scares me ever more."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

And so I went, transporting from place to place, searching for Wally. No one had seen him, not Bruce, not John, not Linda. I had even asked J'onn to do a search for him. He came up with nothing. Wally was not on this Earth. Which led me to the place I hate the most: the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier.

"Where is the Flash?" I shouted at Nick Fury. I was dressed in that ninja outfit from League of Shadows trip I went on, except I had replaced the black boots they supplied with the metal ones Gambit sent. Only my icy eyes showed from under the brim of my black hat, and above the black fabric face mask.

"Why should I tell you?" Apparently, hell hath no fury like a Nicholas scorned.

"Because you have a gun to your head." I teleported one of my numerous pistols into my hand, and placed the barrel in between his eyes. "And I'm wearing my hat. When I'm wearing this hat, I can and will kill anyone. So I'd start talking."

Fury shook his head. "He's not here."

I cocked the hammer back. "Don't you dare lie to me."

He put his hands up in surrender. "Andi, I don't have him. But I can help you find him."

"I don't want your help. I just want the Flash back."

Fury dropped his hands. "If I had him, I would give him to you. But I don't."

I kept the gun on him for a few moments, but I dropped it into the holster I added the right boot and sighed. "Fuck."

"What's the matter?" Why's he bring so sincere?

"I can't find him anywhere. J'onn can't find him anywhere. And it's…" I clenched my fists, digging my nails into my palms. "It's making me upset, and-and hyperventilate." I started those pre-cry breathes and Nick froze.

"O-okay, could you please not cry?" Oh God, he thought as my shoulders started shaking, what do I do? "Seriously, stop crying."

"I just…I can't lose anyone else." I said bitterly, a trickle of blood running down my fingers.

"Look how pathetic you are." The voice of Black Widow came from the shadows.

"This is _not_ the best time for you to be showing up." I spat at the fake red head when she stepping into view. My right index finger twitched with anticipation, ready to be the fastest gun in the West.

"She's right." Fury agreed. "This is not the time."

"No, this is the perfect time." Black Widow stalked up to Nick, and whispered in his ear. "We can manipulate her. Make her one of us."

He shook his head. "No. If she joins us, it's going to be of her own volition."

"Oh come on, Nick!" She shouted while circling him. "We take care of this problem right now. This kid will ne-" She stopped her sentence short and fell over.

Fury looked at her, then back to me. He gasped when he saw my arm raised, gun pointed at Black Widow.

I looked at him. "She needed to shut up."

"Heal her."

I shook my head, unscrewing the silencer from the pistol. "No. She deserved it."

"Andi," He warned.

"Nick, you have no idea how long I've waited to do that."

"Heal her." Fury commanded.

"I have twenty-four hours to think about it. I'll get back to you." And I teleported away.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Come on, Wally." I begged to no one as I rolled his mask (left down stairs in the rush) between my hands. "Where are you?"


	10. Chapter 10

"I don't know what to do, J'onn." I said defeated, my head buried in my hands.

J'onn sat across from me in our booth in the cafeteria of the Watch Tower. "I don't know what to tell you, kid."

"I can't find him, you can't find him. He's gone."

"Flash is _not_ gone." J'onn said sternly. "He's just avoiding us."

That sentence set me off. "He had never avoided me, J'onn!" I screamed at him, lifting my head from my hands, making heads of others turn. "Not once in my entire life, when I've needed him, has he ever avoided me! And I need him now! I have to talk to him!"

J'onn's face seemed to fall; his eyes became sullen and pitiful. "He's okay, Andi. Just because I can't find him doesn't mean anything."

"But you can find anyone." My desperate voice was so prominent that it practically broke his heart. "Especially us. You could find all of the Justice League in a heartbeat. But you can't find him?"

"Don't be so hard on him." A terribly familiar voice said from behind J'onn. "You know that when Flash doesn't want to interact with anyone, he can't be found.

"Go away." I threatened the short woman.

"You don't want me to do that." The dark haired woman in a black wife beater, tan cargo pants with the bottoms tucked into knee-high metal boots. Yeah, _she's_ back.

"I am so sick of you people telling me what to do." I mumbled to myself as she took a seat next to J'onn.

"I know, I know. I went through the same thing." Future-Andi said sympathetically.

My head shot up from my hands, fingers curled into claws. "Would you not do that? I'd kind of like to think my own thoughts for a while." I got up from the booth and stalked down the hallway heading towards the control room, just hoping to get a thought.

I made it to the control room with a blank mind, and went over to the extremely large window, leaned on it, and literally stared out into space. I don't know how long I was staring, but after a while, someone interrupted my thoughts.

"What are you doing, Andi?" A male voice asked behind me.

"What does it look like I'm doing, Wade?" I spat, not even glancing at him.

"Well, it looks like you're sitting around on your ass. But I know my Andi would never do that."

My voice was bitter when I responded. "And which Andi would you be referring to, Not-My-Wade?"

Not-My-Wade moved to lean against the window in front of me. "The Andi that is sitting in the cafeteria with J'onn." He was in his usual Deadpool costume, only he wasn't wearing his mask. Despite the bumps and scars, he actually had a handsome face.

"Does she know you're here? Because if I was her, I would be very upset that you were talking with Past-Andi instead of me talking with Past-Andi."

Not-My-Wade chuckled. "You know, you don't really change much over time."

"I've noticed. And you didn't answer my question."

He nonchalantly switched his gaze from me to space. "No. Why would I let her know?"

I did a quick raise of my eyebrow and a tilt of my head, having it meet with a lifted shoulder in agreement. "What do you want Not-My-Wade?"

"I want you to think." He turned back to me.

"Well, I was trying to before you so rudely interrupted me."

"About Wally."

"What do you think I've been doing for the last few hours? Thinking about pirates?"

Not-My-Wade's face stayed stoic. Funny, that really wasn't the Wade I knew. "You know where he is, Andi."

"No. I really don't." I shook my head.

"Yeah, you do."

"And how do you figure that one?" I crossed my arms over my chest, laying a challenge for him.

He, in turn, mimicked me. "You know Wally better than anyone, who is the one person he trusts more than you?"

I gave a one sided smirk the instant he said that. "Iris."

Not-My-Wade grinned. "Go get him." He ruffled my short hair. "You…weird little ninja."

My smile emerged and I bolted from the window towards the door to the hallway.

Not-My-Wade stayed at the window, grinning from ear to ear. He loved it when he saw me smile. He was surprised when I came running back and engulfed him in a large hug. Not-My-Wade returned the hug with gusto.

"Thanks, Wade." I whispered into his ear.

"For what?" He pulled away at arm's length and cocked his head to one side.

"For telling me to stay in the cupboard." I let him go, and ran back to the cafeteria, leaving his face red from embarrassment.

I made it back to the cafeteria in no time, butting in on a conversation for Future-Andi and J'onn. "Guys." They looked up, surprised at my grin. "I know where Wally is."

"Where?"

"His Uncle Eye's wife's house." J'onn grinned.

"Where?" Future-Andi was still lost.

"Don't worry about it. I've got this." I teleported away, once again, leaving them.

"I don't remember being that ADD…or bipolar for that matter." Future-Andi said.

J'onn shrugged. "Humans tend to have a selective memory. You probably blocked that part of your life in hopes of being better than that."

"Eh, I don't know about that. J'onn, dear boy, it's been nice talking to you, but I must get back." Future-Andi stood up from the booth, being followed by J'onn.

"Hannibal giving you more trouble?"

She scoffed at him. "It's not just Hannibal and the blood suckers. Johnny's getting all excited about the talks of a moon colony, and _all_ of the kids are growing up…it all seems like this part of my life is moving so fast."

"You know you can always come to me if you ever need to talk."

Future-Andi only smiled. "I know, J'onn. I'll see you, alright?" He nodded, and she pushed a button on her belt and disappeared.

As soon as Future-Andi left, J'onn felt this strange vibration flowing through him. Not only did he feel it, he sensed that everyone was experiencing the same thing. He looked around the cafeteria curiously. No one else seemed to be as disturbed as him, or at all for that matter. Must be Cable's doing, he thought to himself, Andi is not going to be happy.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

A few seconds after I disappeared, I reappeared in front of a door in Missouri. I knocked, and a tall red headed woman answered the door, her green eyes flashing and smile beaming when she saw me.

"Hello, Andi."

"Hi, Mrs. Allen."

"You know," she started, stepping away from the door a little. "You can call me Iris."

I smiled slightly. "I know. So where is he, Iris?"

"On the back porch with Barry and Bart." She stepped further away from the door. "Come on in."

I was about to step through the door way, when a vibration ran through my body. I gave a large shiver, and stared wide eyed at her. "Did you feel that?"

"Feel what? Sweetheart, are you all right?" Iris placed her hand on my shoulder.

I nodded. She didn't feel it. "Natiecakes." I accused under my breath.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing. I've…just got to talk to Wally." Iris led me through her atrium and dining room, to the sliding glass door that would open up to the back porch and yard.

"Can I get you anything, Andi? Coffee? Lemonade?"

I shook my head politely. "No thank you, Mrs. Allen."

She opened the door and went outside. "Wally, honey, you have a visitor." She stepped aside to let me out and then went back into the kitchen to finish preparing supper.

Wally, who had one year old Bart sitting in his lap, playing with his fingers, turned his head towards the door and sighed when he saw me. "Hey, Andi."

"What's up, Wally?" I sat in a vacant chair at the table next to him.

"What are you doing here, Andi?" He said through a smile as Bart grabbed one of his fingers and started flailing his hand around.

"I just want to know why you left."

Wally picked Bart up off of his lap and set him down onto the porch. "Linda and I fought, and knowing her, I can probably never show my face in public again."

"You know, maybe being ousted as the Flash isn't so bad. I mean, you don't have to hide anymore, people will understand when you leave suddenly." I doubted that was going to convince him.

He sighed. "That's just it, Andi. I liked being hidden. People are going to look at me and know me as the Flash, instead of seeing me, Wally Rudolph West."

"Will you please at least talk to her?" I practically begged him. "Try to convince her not to tell."

"You know Linda, she's a reporter through and through." Wally crossed his arms over his chest. "She can't keep a secret, even if she tried."

"Wally," Iris came out of the kitchen with the wireless phone. "Linda's on the phone."

He tensed up. "Wally," Barry ordered him. "You better talk to her. Because if you don't, think about what it's going to be like for Bart when he grows up.

Wally looked at the little boy playing with the laces on his size thirteen shoes. He was so innocent. Reluctantly, he took the phone from Iris and put it up to his ear. "Hey, Linda."


	11. Chapter 11

"I'm not going." Wally said defiantly.

"I'm not telling you to go." I said, sipping the lemonade that Iris gave me a while ago, before Barry and her went up to bed.

"Then what are you saying?" He sounded tired.

I sadly smirked. "I just want you to consider taking your own advice: You need to balance work and relationships. Otherwise you'll go mad."

"And how's that working out for you?" Thanks for the slap, Wally.

"Well, my one and only boyfriend has a child with another woman who is no longer with us, God rest her soul. So it's not really working out for either of us."

"See?"

"Don't base your life on my crappy-ass relationship. Which," I stated almost proudly. "I completely destroyed."

"Don't sound so happy about it." Wally sounded kind of disgusted. Good.

"Well what would I do with a guy on my shoulder? I wouldn't have been able to go to Xavier's, I wouldn't have met Wade, I wouldn't have beaten those cat bastards, I wouldn't have done any of that." Come on Wally, tell me I'm wrong.

"I don't know about that one, Andi." He sipped his drink as well. "I mean, Johnny would've probably gone with you."

"But then I wouldn't have gotten so close to Wade as I did."

"Close?" He scoffed. "You haven't talked to Wade in months."

I squinted my eyes in confusion. "What are you talking about? He lives in my house."

"He may live in your house but you two aren't 'married' like you used to be."

"So we've passed the honeymoon stage, it doesn't mean we aren't as close." And then a second later, "And we're not married!"

"Please, you guys are about as married as Linda and I are."

"Uh, excuse me." I held up my left hand and pointed to my ring finger. "Do you see a ring here? No. But," My eyes traveled to his left hand. "I do, however, see one on yours."

"Yeah, about that." Wally gently took off the ring.

Uh oh. "What are you doing?"

"Reading the inscription."

"And what does it say?" Oh please be something good.

"'Always Truthful'." Well isn't that a big slice of irony.

I shook my head. "Nobody blames you, you know."

"But I do." He gave a large sigh. "And I'm about to punish myself for it."

And of course, I assumed the worst. "Wally, if you get a divorce I swear to God I'm going to disown you." He knew I was serious, I never swore to God.

He smiled slightly and shook his head. "I'm not filing for divorce, I," He stood up from his chair at the table on the porch. "am going home."

I smiled. "You are?"

Wally nodded. "Yes. I am going home, and packing a bag."

"Where are you going to go?"

"I am moving into the Watch Tower." And he ran off.

I sighed and fell back into my chair. Major fail, Andi.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

_Bang… Bang…Bang…_

Once again, my head was bashing against the wall of Tony's lab. The only difference: I was holding Wally's mask, wishing him to go to Linda.

'Well you just fail at everything, don't you?' One voice said.

"Don't start." I begged myself.

'Seriously, we don't want to hear it.' The other consoled.

'I don't care! She messed up! I knew reverse psychology wasn't going to work on him!"

The other argued. 'Well it was worth a shot!'

"Please be quiet!" I threw my head against the wall a few more times.

'Would you stop that?' The one voice shouted. 'You are going to seriously damage yourself, just like you do everything else!' The other voice tried to fight that comment, but the one kept at it. 'That's right. You ruin everything for everyone! Every time you get your little hands on something, it either changes for worse or dies. How does that make you feel, huh?'

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" I threw myself completely at the wall repeatedly, in hopes of blacking out and keeping the two voices quiet, if only for a little while. All that time spent with Wade has not been helpful for my psyche.

"Are you okay?" Tony's voice echoed gently from the stairs.

"Do I look okay to you?" I cried, holding my head whilst falling against the wall and sliding down to the floor.

He came over, sat down next to me, gathered me into his arms, and held my head. "It's going to okay, Andi. You're going to be alright."

"Of course I'm going to be okay. I'm always okay! But you don't understand." I was shaking my head, tears running down my cheeks. "Everything I touch either dies or changes terribly. Look at Wally, he would never have left Linda had I not been here. I'm not getting anywhere with that stupid gun! I'm never going to help Rogue, or Gambit, or anyone for that matter. I'm just the world's biggest…fuck up! That's all I've ever been, that's all I'll ever be."

"Stop talking like that." Tony mumbled to me.

"It's true." I continued shaking my head. "If I had just kept to myself and not made friends with Virgil or Richie or anybody, I wouldn't be here. I would probably be somewhere in Kansas, living peacefully with some random foster family." When the crying breaths started, he only held me tighter and shushed me.

"You're going to be okay," He cooed, rubbing one of my arms. "Everything's going to be okay."

"I-want-to-go-home." I mumbled into his arm.

"What?"

"I-want-to-go-home!" I said more defiantly.

He nodded, worry in his eyes. "Okay, okay, I'll get you home."

"I just want to go home." I cried, and he kissed the top of my head.

"I know, I know." He repeated, waiting until I calmed down before he made another move.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Is she going to be okay?" Pepper asked Tony later that night as they watched me sleep in one of the guest rooms from the doorway.

"I think so. I don't know what it was, but something in her just snapped."

"What do you mean?"

"She was yelling at herself, saying that she was the reason everything was so 'messed up'."

"My God." Pepper seemed so surprised.

He shook his head when he saw me turn onto my side, clutching Wally's mask tighter. "Andi is so mad at herself, and I don't have a clue as to why."

"She'll tell you when she's ready."

"I don't know how much longer she can hold on." Tony finally tore his eyes away from my sleeping form. "You didn't see her Pepper. She was hurling herself at a wall, screaming 'shut up'."

"That's terrible."

"I know."

"Oh God, I hope she's okay." Pepper covered her mouth in worry.

Tony enveloped her in his arms. "Me too."

"When are you sending her home?"

"When she wakes up. I have to call Bruce and have him prepare."

Pepper pulled away from him and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I'll call him. You stay with her, make sure she's okay."

"Thank you, Miss Potts." He said before he went back to watching me.

She smiled a little. "You're welcome, Mr. Stark."


	12. Chapter 12

_"How long were you in that cupboard?" Lieutenant James Gordon asked me once we arrived at the interrogation room. He had taken me from Shannon and Jameson's house, that terrible hell hole._

_"I don't know, a while I guess." I shivered in the air conditioned room._

_His dark eyes began to fill with worry. "Are you cold?" I nodded vigorously. "I'll be right back okay?" Again, I nodded, and he left the room. He came back a few minutes later and set down a small pair of scrubs in front of me. "If you give me the clothes you're wearing, you can wear these." He bargained._

_"No."_

_"Why not?"_

_Every muscle in my body tensed. "I will never undress for anyone. Ever." He heard the anger in my voice._

_He nodded. "What if I left? Would you change clothes then?"_

_I sat and thought about it for a second. If he left, it would be like I was getting ready for school. I reluctantly said, "Fine."_

_"Alright. Just open the door when you're ready." He left again, and I changed as quickly as I could. _

_The navy blue scrubs were way too large for my tiny body: the shirt was more like a long sleeved dress, and the pants were about a foot too long. I put my old clothes on the table, went over to the door, and opened it just like he said._

_"I'm sorry about the size." He apologized when he came through the doorway. "That was the smallest set we have."_

_"It's okay." I said, sitting down in my chair._

_"Would it be alright if I asked you some questions?" I nodded and he pulled a notepad and pen from his coat pocket. "What's your name, sweetheart?"_

_"Andrea Lotus Hojem." I said barely above a whisper._

_His eyebrows knitted together, as if he was contemplating something. "How old are you?"_

_"Almost seven."_

_He scribbled my answers on his paper. "Is there anywhere you can stay while we get this whole mess settled?"_

_My eyes became tight. "I'm not going back to the orphanage."_

_He wrote it down, and looked at me for a few minutes, silent. After what seemed like forever, he said, "Are you hungry?"_

_I nodded. "Yes." He stood up again and before he left I asked. "Can I have a pen and paper?"_

_"Sure." He ripped off the paper he wrote on and slid the notepad and pen over to me. "I'll be right back." And he left._

_I started doodling, just drawing lines connected to each other. Unconsciously, I drew a 'B' and started coloring it in. "Hello again." He said, setting down a bottle of water and a bag of chips in front of me. He looked down at the paper and asked, "What does the 'B' stand for?"_

_I smiled slightly as I continued to color. "Bruce."_

_"Who's Bruce?" It's her, he thought, it's got to be her._

_"My best friend."_

_"Does Bruce have a last name?"_

_I nodded._

_"What is it?"_

_"Wayne."_

_The man sighed with a smile on his face and touched my shoulder. "May I see your arms?"_

_"No." I said defiantly._

_"No?" His shoulders fell along with his hope._

_"Not until I know more about you."_

_"Okay." He moved to the other end of the table and sat down. "What do you want to know?"_

_"What's your name?"_

_"James Gordon."_

_"Do you have a family?" When I finished the 'B' I moved on to a 'W', interlacing the left point of the 'W' with the bottom curve of the 'B'._

_"Yes."_

_"Where do you live?" I took a sip of water and opened the chips._

_"In an apartment downtown."_

_I contemplated letting him see for a few moments. "Okay." I rolled up my sleeves and his face brightened. "Please don't turn me in."_

_"Miss Hojem, it's time for you to go home." He tried to convince me._

_"I'm not ready to face them."_

_Gordon sighed. "Miss Hojem, my job is to return missing children to their home."_

_"I'm doing fine on my own." I pleaded._

_He was quiet for a while, probably thinking about what to do with me. And then, he completely changed the subject. "How long have you lived with Shannon State?"_

_I shrugged. "A couple weeks."_

_"How long were you in the cupboard?"_

_"A long, long time." Gordon continued to write on his paper._

_"Did you hear or see anything while you were there?"_

_My mind immediately shifted to the mysterious man in red. "No." I lied. "I didn't hear anything."_

_And so that's how it went, him asking questions, me answering them without breaking my promise to the man. We were in that room for a few hours, even after the interrogation was over._

_"Do you have a place to stay?" He asked after I started yawning._

_I shook my head. "No."_

_"Come on. You can stay with me for the night."_

_"Really?"_

_He nodded. "Sure."_

_~.~.~.~.~.~.~_

I awoke and stared at the ceiling above me. Wow, this was one of the first times I've ever woken up and no one was staring at me like an exhibit in a museum. Moments later, I heard a clock chime. I sat up, saw the clock, and mentally slapped myself. "Oh, shit!" I threw the covers off me, and started running towards the door. The moment I reached the closed door, I teleported out of whatever place I was in.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Nick Fury was sitting in the infirmary next to the bed in which Natasha Romanov was laying. He was silently praying, although he'd never admit it, for me to show up.

His prayers were answered. "Hey, Nicky."

Fury turned his head and sneered. "Andi."

"Sorry it took so long, I had a small mental breakdown." I went over to random drawer cabinets and started opening them and closing them, searching for a syringe. Once I found one, I rolled up my long sleeve and drew some blood.

"She owes me big time, you tell her." I said to Nick as I went over to the idle woman and injected the contents of the syringe into her.

"She's going to be okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah. She'll be fine in a couple hours."

"Why are you being so nice to her? You hate her."

Good question. I sighed and shrugged. "I don't know."

Fury scoffed and grinned. "You know, you might be a 'bad ass' on the outside, but you're actually pretty nice on the inside."

I blushed. "Don't go spreading it around."

"I know you don't want to hear it, but I think you'd be a good addition to S. H. I. E. L. D."

My blush deepened. "Well…I'll think about it."

"You will?" His spirits seemed to brighten.

I nodded. "Yeah. But seriously, don't tell her." And I teleported to the Stark Mansion, I think that's where I was before.


	13. Chapter 13

When I reappeared, I was encompassed by a hug and a slap to the back of the head. "Oh Andi, I'm so glad you're okay. Where the hell have you been?" Bruce was the one to give me those lovely gifts.

"I'm fine, thanks, no really I am." I replied sarcastically. "As to where've I've been…Iris's place, Tony's basement, magical dream land, and S. H. I. E. L. D."

"You went to magical dream land?" I nodded. "Ouch. Anything too terrible?"

I shook my head with a smile on my face. "No. It was Gordon saving my ass, just like he always was." Bruce chuckled.

"You alright?"

I sort of nodded. "I'm getting there. How's Wally?"

Bruce sounded unsure of his answer. "Okay. He moved into the Watch Tower."

"So I've heard. You guys aren't mad at him, are you?"

He defended himself. "I'm not. But Diana and Shayera are noticeably upset."

"Well they're always upset." And then a thought hit me. "Oh, before I forget! How'd the date with Diana go?" I asked, a sly smile on his face.

"Wally?" I nodded and he smiled at the fond memory. "Well, it started off a little awkward, the drive to the restaurant being very quiet. But once we were seated, everything sort of came naturally and we were chatting like we've been dating for years."

I smiled warmly. "Anything else happen?"

"Nothing I'm going to tell you." He said coyly, and I laughed like I hadn't laughed in a long time.

"Is this relationship going to blossom?"

"Sorry to disappoint, but probably not."

My face fell. "Why not?"

"The only reason we went out is because we lost a bet." Bruce shrugged like that happened in their little group of heroes all of the time.

"So? You guys-"

"Oh good, you're back." Tony cut me off when he entered the room. He came over, gave me a hug and hit the back of my head. "What the hell were you thinking? Sneaking off like that right after a breakdown of that multitude? Not smart, theoretical little sister."

"What is with everyone and hitting me today?" I asked myself.

Bruce scoffed. "You deserve it after you ran away."

"Yeah," Tony joined. "We have work to do, remember? That watch isn't going to finish itself."

I sighed a heavy sigh. "That watch isn't going to get finished at all. It's not going to work."

"How do you figure?"

"There's no way I'm going to be able to insert the cutonium into the watch without it disintegrating the metal around it. The watch is made out of cheap steel. Cutonium will melt anything less than diamond."

Bruce asked, "How do you know?"

"Because the gun was originally made out of an alloy of Adamantium and diamond, that's why is was able to exist in the first place."

"So then we melt down the gun, easy peasy." Good job, Tony. NOT.

The look on my face was one that was reserved for moments of complete idiocy. "Are you kidding me? Do you know how much heat is needed to melt _both_ adamantium and diamond? I would need _at least_ the blazes of hell."

Tony started to stroke his beard. He actually stroked his beard. "I think I can arrange that."

"Okay, look, I know that you and Brucie over here have literally unlimited resources, but I think I have to go to Canada for this one." Shit, I hate going to Canada.

"Canada?" Bruce and Tony asked at the same time.

"Yes, Canada. Don't question it, I'll be back in a few days." I teleported down to the basement, gathered the gun, the solid cutonium cube, and the watch, and teleported back to Stryker's lab.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Bruce and Tony were frozen after I left. After a minute, Bruce looked at Tony for an answer. Tony just held up his hands in defeat. "She's your sister."

Bruce shook his head. "Half."

"So, who's half is the one that keeps running away?"

Bruce only shook his head. "Not mine." After a second, he thought up, "You know, we should probably set up rules or something."

Tony nodded along. "Yeah, like no traveling the world after six pm."

Bruce laughed. "Or no leaving suddenly after just waking up from a coma."

Tony howled. "That's brilliant. Do you think she'd follow them?"

"Willingly? No. But we probably can get J'onn to agree to them."

"Oh she is going to hate us."

Bruce scoffed. "That's okay, we're her big brothers, she's supposed to hate us."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Alright, Stryker. Where did you put it?" I asked no one as I sifted through the random shards of metal, massive amounts of papers, nuts, bolts, and other metal working necessities that were in Stryker's old lab. "Ah, there it is." I pushed a stack of papers off a cylindrical tub with bubbling metallic silver liquid in it. "I can't believe this thing is still working."

I pulled down the lever connected to the tub and flushed the liquid into a glass case full of a special type of water. Once all of the liquid was drained, I threw the skeleton of the gun into the tub, closed the hatch, and waited.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Charles Xavier was sitting in his office traditional spot above the Danger Room, observing his team's skills. Everything was well, the team was doing fine, and they were beating the simulation. And then, he got this strange feeling in the back of his mind, like something was happening that really shouldn't be.

He pressed the intercom button and told them, "That will conclude this evening's session. I'm sorry to cut it so short." He smiled when he heard a few cheers. After he released the team from the session, Charles made his away to Cerebro. "Perhaps I'll be able to concentrate with Cerebro." He mumbled to himself. He traveled down that bland, metallic hallway, and reached that high-tech desk. Charles placed the head piece on, and began to let his mind wander, searching for the reason behind his mind's uneasiness.

And then it hit him: A disturbance in Alkali Lake, Canada. He tried to focus on who was there, who was working, but something was blocking him. After a minute of trying, he gave up, took off the helmet, and contacted one of his students.

"Gambit," He thought, sending out a psychic signal.

"_Oui_?" Remy LeBough thought back.

"I need you to check something out for me. A disturbance at Alkali Lake."

"When?"

"As soon as possible."

"_Oui_, jus' nee' t' tell _chérie_."

"No." Charles ordered. "It would be better if this little mission was kept between us."

Gambit shrugged. "Wha' ev'. I'll leav' tonigh'."

"Thank you."


	14. Chapter 14

I sat next to the tub, my knees tucked into my chest. It had been several hours since I threw the exoskeleton of the gun in, and it still wasn't a liquid. I shivered, rubbing my hands together and blowing on them. Why the hell was it so cold in here?

And then I heard a foot step. It was subtle, but still there. I flipped the cloth face mask up, secured my black hat on my head, leapt on top of several different machines, and hid in the rafters in the ceiling. I quietly unsheathed my swords, and prepared myself to massacre anyone that I saw. Except, I didn't really expect _him_ to show up.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Gambit stalked cautiously into the abandoned headquarters. He was a little weary about returning, but he supposed that if he got the chance to knock someone's head in, it wouldn't be a total waste.

He pulled out his bo staff from his inside trench coat pocket and extended it. He used it to poke and move little things, looking for whatever turned the old headquarters on. As soon as he approached the tub, he looked inside and I dropped from the ceiling.

"Back off it, Gambit." I growled at him, pointing my adamantium katana at him.

"Who are you?" He threatened right back, getting into the stance he used for fighting.

"Think about it Gam-Gam. Who else do you know with these boots...or tattoos for that matter?"

He tilted his head with a miniscule smile on his face. "_Bréve-Remplir_?"

I dropped the swords from his face and sheathed them. "Nice to see you again." He dropped the one end of his bo staff and held out his hand, I shook it.

"Y' too. Wha' are y' doin' hea?"

I inwardly cringed at his voice. I never really noticed how much that voice annoyed me. "I'm actually working on a project. I needed this wonderful little tub." I motioned toward it. "I really should learn the name of it."

"Wha' y' makin'?" He looked into it again.

"It's a surprise." I teased. "For Rogue."

"_Chére_?" I nodded. "Why?"

I shrugged. "She deserves it."

"Wha' is i'?" All of a sudden, Gambit was as excited as a puppy wanting to play catch.

"I told you, it's a surprise!"

He pouted a little. "Nee' an' 'elp?"

I pulled down the face mask and smiled. "Sure. Can you help me search for a square molding plate about this big?" I made an inch by inch square with my fingers.

He nodded, and we began to search about the room, filing through the many drawers and large cabinets full of tools and utensils. We bypassed needles, syringes, hooks, and many circular shaped objects, with one large space in the middle. Neither of us had any idea as to what they were used for. When we couldn't find anything resembling what I was looking for, we moved on to the tables and cubby holes where other miscellaneous items were held. I found something similar: an eight by one inch rectangle with a two centimeter border, leaving a half centimeter not indented. Yeah, this could work.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Ready?" I asked Gambit as we prepared to start pouring the alloy into the mold.

"Yeah."

I held the tube that led to the tub, ready to push the button and let the alloy flow through it. "You better hold that thing steady, because if you don't, you are going to get this shit all over you. And let me tell you something, this shit don't come out."

He chuckled. "I' no' goin 'nywher'."

"Pushing the button…" I took a deep breath and crossed some imaginary fingers. "…Now." I hit the small blue button and a steady stream of searing hot liquefied metal traveled through the tube and out the large needle. I gently guided the needle along the mold, letting every space fill up before moving on. It took about fifteen minutes for the mold to be filled.

"I' 't don'?" Gambit asked, still keeping his hands rigid.

"Yeah, for now. This has to solidify before I can take the next step of adding the cutonium." He nodded. "You can let go of it, you know."

"Righ'." Gambit removed his gloved hands, they had just a little shake about them.

"Are you alright?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Thi' i' really goin' help _Chérie_?"

"When I add the cutonium it will.

"Wha' i' 't goin' do?"

I smiled and clapped my hand on his shoulder. "Oh, you'll find out, Gam Gam. Hey, tell the Professor that it's just me fooling around up here." I waved my hand, and Gambit disappeared.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"How do I get it back to a solid without freezing it?" I inquired to Lucius Fox that same day.

His arm was holding his head up. It was propped up on his dining room table. "Miss Wayne," He sniffled. "I do not like talking business in my bathrobe." He shook his congested head.

"I'm sorry I didn't know you were sick. But this is vital; life or death, my friend!" I saw his eyebrow raised with skepticism. "Okay, maybe not life or death, but it is still important."

"I don't know! This is not my area of expertise."

I looked at him incredulously. "You're a chemist!"

"And Cutonium is a new element. One I have never experimented with. So I am sorry, but you are on your own with this."

"Why is everyone deserting me? These past few years I couldn't get a minute to myself, and now you people are all obsessed with leaving me. I don't know how much more I can take of this." What the hell was going on with the world?

"You're growing up, Andi. You don't need us that much anymore." He tried to reason with me.

"Says you. I'm more confused than ever now."

"Andrea." He said sternly, grabbing one of my hands. "You have to start figuring things out on your own. You are nineteen now, and you are plenty old enough to make your own decisions. Figure out how to get the Cutonium back into a solid, or keep it as a liquid. No one is babying you anymore. So suck it up and move forward."

My eyes were wide, jaw dropped. No one had ever spoken to me like that before. "Okay." I nodded numbly. "I-I'll figure it out." I let go of his hand and teleported back to Canada.

Lucius let out a breath. "Tough love." He reminded himself. "It had to be done, it had to be done." He recited, as if trying to convince himself of his latest deed.


	15. Chapter 15

A day or so after my little spat with Lucius, Tony was sitting in his office, reading the newspaper. He was wearing his usual suit and tie, except the suit he had donned was the Dolce I had sent him.

"Mr. Stark?" A female voice called out from the intercom.

"Yes, Judy?"

"There's a young lady here to see you."

"Send her in."

"Are you sure, Mr. Stark? She looks like a hoodlum." Judy whispered the last part.

Tony chuckled. "Yeah, send her in." He heard the door open and close, but he didn't look up from the newspaper. Even when he heard something fall onto his desk, he still didn't look at the girl.

"Do you always walk like that?" He asked calmly, a smile creeping on his face.

"Like what?"

He set the paper down and full on smiled at me. "Like you're a ballerina."

I kept my face stoic. "Yes, I always walk like that, even in metal boots." He took a quick look at me in my League of Shadows get-up with Gambit's boots.

"Now that's impressive." Tony's smile began to fade when he noticed that I was not smiling with him. "No pleasantries today?"

I shook my head slightly. "It's done. I thought you might want to see."

"I would, thank you." He pushed the paper aside and picked up the bracelet. He examined it thoroughly, from the tip to tip of the curved arc. "Where's the Cutonium?"

"You're looking at it." He raised an eyebrow and I answered his unasked question. "I added the liquid Cutonium to the alloy. I just poured it in while the metal was also a liquid, stirred it up, and came out with that."

"Are you sure it's safe?" He gently set the bracelet back down on the desk. I was silent for a moment. "Andi," Tony started to worry. "Is it safe?"

I took a deep breath, still showing no emotion. "I don't know. I'm not a mutant, I can't test it."

"Well, you should-"

"I'm not taking advice anymore." I declared, which completely threw him off guard.

"What?"

"I have decided that I am no longer going to be taking any advice or discussions about anything I happen to be doing."

"And why have you decided this?"

I swallowed a large lump of nervousness. "Because every time I ask for someone else's advice I am only hurting myself. From here on, I am going to figure things out by myself, and I will learn from my mistakes and therefore become better."

"Okay," Tony started off. "What are you going to do now?"

"I am going to show Nicholas that I can do things by myself, and then I am going home. Good day, Tony." I picked up bracelet and began walking out.

"Bye, Andi." He winced when the door shut. Not a second later, he picked up his phone and typed in Bruce's number.

"Wayne." He heard on the other end of the receiver after three rings.

"Bruce, it's Tony."

"What's up, Tony?"

He sighed. "Something happened to Andi. I'm not sure what, but she's very different."

"How so?" Bruce asked, setting down his paperwork.

"Well, she just told me that she no longer taking anyone's advice. But she wasn't ranting or anything, she was very calm and stoic." Tony said, quite unsure of how to react. "Have she ever done that before?"

Bruce thought about that for a second. "I've seen it once. She and I were taking a walk down one of the streets of Gotham, just chatting, and she passed a man. He was just an ordinary man, and she did double take of him, like she remembered him, and when she turned forward again, she stopped speaking. I tried to get her to talk, but she wouldn't budge. She didn't show any emotion, no anger, no confusion, absolutely nothing. I still don't know why."

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I think it's time we set the 'rules' in motion. Just in case she decided to do anything stupid."

"I think that's the best precaution we can take. I'll inform J'onn, and he'll make sure she can't get into too much trouble."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Nick Fury sat in an office, filling out paperwork that day. He hated paperwork.

"Hello, Nicholas." My voice made his head shot up from the desk.

"Andi. Are you okay?" He was staring at my slack face, baggy eyes, and graying skin.

"No." I said monotonously. I tossed the bracelet toward him, and he caught it on instinct. "I finished it. And I didn't need any help from S. H. I. E. L. D."

"Would you look at that?" He said curiously, taking a gander at the bracelet.

"I guess I'm not totally helpless after all." I waved my hand and the bracelet shot from his hand to mine.

"Guess not." He replied after I disappeared. "Something is very off about her."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Rogue was sitting under a tree on the school grounds that same day, laying down and relaxing. Any time off was rare to the X-Men, so you had to cherish those boring moments.

While her eyes were closed, I popped in next to her. "Hello, Rogue."

My sudden voice spooked her. She opened her eyes and sat up with a smile. "Hey, Andi. How's it goin'?"

"Oh, not awesome. Look, ever since we met last year, I've wanted to help you. So I made this." I pulled the bracelet out from thin air and gave it to her.

She took it cautiously. "What is it?"

"It's a bracelet. Now, I want you to put it on, and go give Gambit a big ol' kiss. And tell him _Bréve-Remplir_ says 'hi'."

"What?"

Rolling my eyes, I slipped the bracelet onto her wrist, stood her up, and pushed her towards the mansion. "Go!" She hesitated and kept looking at her wrist and then back to me. I waved her on a few times before she went with it.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Rogue ran through the mansion, a wide grin spread on her face. She searched and searched, and finally found Gambit sitting in the tree outside of his room window.

"_Bonjour_, _Chér_." Gambit greeted cheerfully when he saw her smile.

Rogue wasted no time leaping into the tree, grabbing Gambit's face, and crushing her lips to his. He was extremely shocked; he even tried to push her away. That is, until he realized that his energy wasn't being drained, and then he only squeezed her closer, deepening their kiss.

When a need for air became eminent, they pulled apart from each other. "_Chér_?"

"_Bréve-Remplir_ says, 'hi'." She said, making him laugh and pull her in for another kiss.


	16. Chapter 16

"Wade? Wade, I'm home!" I shouted when I walked through the door of my house, suitcase in hand. When no one answered, I gave a large sigh and heaved my things up the stairs and to my room. "Wade!" I gave one last effort before giving up and searching for him.

I looked in all of the rooms upstairs, everywhere on the ground level, and even in the basement. "Must be staying over with Storm." I shook my head and went back into the living room. I flopped down onto my old seventies couch and marveled at the comfort. "I missed you, couch." I began rubbing my face into the pillow that sat ever so faithfully on the right most cushion.

_Knock, knock, knock._

"No one's home!" I shouted into the pillow.

"Andi, open up!" I heard Wade yell from the other side.

"Use your key!" I always locked the door, whether I was home or not.

"My key is _inside_." I smirked and chuckled a little.

"Use the spare." Even though I couldn't see him, I knew Wade flipped open the small hidden door on the doorknob, pulled out the spare key, unlocked the door, and replaced it before coming in.

"Get up. We have to go."

I shook my head. "I just got here. Don't want to move."

He grabbed my waist and threw me over his shoulder. "Come on, let's go."

"Hey! Put me down!" I demanded, flailing my arms.

"I don't think so." Wade tightened his grip on me. "Beam me up, Scotty!" He shouted, a smile on his face. "I've always wanted to say that." He mumbled to me before he disappeared.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"PUT ME DOWN, WADE!" I screamed at him, still squirming, trying to get free. All of a sudden, Wade threw me off of his shoulder and I slammed into the ground. "Ow, much!"

"We need to talk to you." I looked up and saw Wally, J'onn, Bruce, Tony, Wade, and Fury standing above me in a circle.

"Erg! Stop cowering around me!" I ran like a rat from their circle, but Wade grabbed me and held so that I couldn't go anywhere.

"You are going to stay put and you are going to listen! Got it?" Wade scolded me in a way that I would only let him do.

I still struggled, but Wade wouldn't budge. "What do you guys want from me?"

"Why have you suddenly decided not to take advice anymore?" Bruce questioned, invading my space. "What set you off?"

"Nothing!" I screamed at him. "I grew up!"

He scoffed. "Please. You wouldn't grow up if everyone in the world wanted you to." Bruce got very close to my face. "What happened, Gypsy?"

"Nothing. I told you, I'm fine. I just grew up."

Bruce sighed. "You didn't grow up, you're throwing a tantrum!"

I thrashed around more. "I am **not** a child!"

"You keep saying that but you do nothing to back it up."

His statement halted my movements. Bruce spun away from me and Fury came up next. "Hello, Andi. I know you're probably wondering what I'm doing here, and I'm just going to say it: When you cane to see me, you didn't look good. In fact, you looked terrible. And I have to say, I was worried about you."

"You don't even like me." I stated incredulously.

He shook his head a little. "That's not true. You may not be my favorite person on the planet, but I don't hate you. I respect you, there's a difference."

"What do _you_ want?"

"I want you to act like the grown up that stood up to me not a month before. I want you to knock this act off, and take responsibility for your actions."

That tore at me. "What do you think I'm trying to do? Every time I gain a little independence, you people drag me into one of these 'interventions' and pull me back in!"

Wade shook me. "Behave." He commanded.

"I am answering honestly, Winston. What else do you want from me?" I growled at him.

"Exactly what I said: Behave."

Fury stepped back and Wally came forward to me. "Hey, buddy."

"What's up, Wally?"

"Why are you acting like this?"

I decided to act stupid. "Like what?"

"Like you don't care about anything anymore. It's almost as if you've lost your humanity." Wally took in a deep breath. "I just want to know why."

I gave him a sad stare. "If you were me, would you be as happy peppy as you are all the time?"

Wally shook his head in disappointment. "That's not excuse. You've never acted like this before."

"Maybe I just want to be mad for a little while. You guys ever thought of that?" I accused the group.

"Are you mad at me?" Wally asked, the fun drained from him.

"No. I can't be mad at you; it's a physical impossibility for me to be angry at you." I scoffed at myself.

He nodded. "I wouldn't mind if you were mad at me, I would understand." I nodded back to him and he stepped back.

J'onn came forward. "Hello, Andi."

"Hey, J'onn. What are you going to scold me about today?" I said bitterly through clenched teeth.

He just shook his head. "I'm not. I know that you feel betrayed, and that you think everyone's going to do that to you. But I won't. I will never deny you an answer to a question, or help in solving a problem. I am always going to be here for you." He gave the tiniest of smiles. "You probably think that is the corniest thing anyone has ever said, but you need to know that there are those people who will not treat you like a brat, one that needed to grow up in this case." He became quiet and stepped back.

"Okay, everyone's done talking, can I go now?" I asked, snarkiness lacing my voice.

"I haven't had my turn yet." Bruce and Fury stood aside to let an older me step forward.

"I don't want to talk to you." If my arms were free, I would have crossed them.

Future-Andi put her hands behind her back. "Well that's too bad. Because you don't have much of a choice, does she Wade?"

"None that I can see."

"What Andi are you?" I inquired, looking at the woman wearing the Lady Deadpool costume.

"Five years into the future." Future-Andi was going to say something, but I interrupted.

"Did you come out of the superhero closet yet?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Why not?"

"I-I don't know." She was startled at the question. "I just haven't told anyone."

My head hung forward. "God damn it! Why the hell not?"

"Because we don't want to tell anyone." Future-Andi stayed calm. "We want to be able to live life, not like Tony over there. No offense, Tony."

"None taken." He added.

"What kind of life would we be in store for if we spilled the beans? We would be constantly bothered by paparazzi and people, and journalists, and people, and those who want to crowd our space!" Now Future-Andi was not so calm, she was becoming slightly neurotic. "Do you want people to crowd our space?"

"No." I said sheepishly.

"So what if Lucius yelled at you? It's just one less person crowding our space." That logic didn't seem like the most solid, but being in the state I was in, I took it.

I was silent for a moment, letting everything I'd heard sink in. "What do I do now?"

Future-Andi scoffed. "Act like Kitty. Have fun for once. And enjoy while you can, because next year…oh boy next year."

"What happens next year?" I worried.

She winked at me. "Spoilers." She hit a button on her belt and disappeared.


	17. Chapter 17

"How was Cali?" Virgil asked the next night while him, Richie and I played poker at the Hawkins' house. I missed the days when we would just hang out together. It was a Thursday.

"Hot." I replied simply, throwing two cards away and picking two up.

"What about Tony's mansion? How was that?" Richie asked, picking three up.

I sighed. "Big. And too high-tech for my taste." Virgil picked one up.

"Three of a kind." He showed his three Jacks.

"Sorry, bro," Richie showed his hand. "Full house."

"All I've got is two pair, threes and fours." We threw our cards into a pile, Richie straightened them all back into a deck, and shuffled them. "So how was the homestead? Nothing too exciting happened I hope."

"Well…" Virgil trailed off, smirking like an idiot. "Richie-"

"Virg!" Richie hit him.

"What? What happened?" I couldn't help smiling. "Riche, what did you do?" I accused.

"I didn't really want to tell anyone, Virgil." He said through clenched teeth.

I hit his arm. "Dude, come on! I'm your other best friend." He still didn't seem convinced. "I would tell you if I did something…probably drastic."

"Fine! Fine." Richie took a deep breath. "I asked Frieda to marry me." He said quickly.

My mouth dropped. "You what?"

"I asked Frieda to marry me." Richie said, a little more confident than before.

"That's… …" My face had gone from slack to a large smile. "fantastic!" I clapped him on the shoulder. "Congratulations."

Richie only smiled sheepishly. "Thanks." He began to deal again, and I raised my hands slightly.

"Can I ask a question? Really fast." He nodded. "Are you guys absolutely, one hundred percent sure about this?"

"Yes." Richie said. "We had a nice long chat about it, and we both agreed that after two years of dating, we should make it official."

"But?" I hoped for there to be something more.

"We are waiting until after we have both had four years of college before we actually have the ceremony."

I nodded in agreement. "Sounds sensible." I placed down one card and picked one up. "Now, I know you're going to MIT, where's she going?"

"University of Boston." Virgil picked up two.

"Now, I know we haven't had much contact this summer, obviously. But I still want to be invited to this wedding." Richie smiled when he laid down two.

"Of course you're invited." Richie laid down his hand. "Pair of twos." He said disappointedly.

"Three threes." Virgil happily beat him.

"Sorry boys, straight to the ten." They groaned and threw their cards at me.

"Kids! It's time for dinner!" We heard Trina yell from downstairs.

"We're coming!" We all yelled back in unison. We left our card game in Virgil's room and trampled down the stairs.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, alright?" Richie asked, heading for the door.

"Of course. See you." Virgil and I said, waving goodbye and heading towards the kitchen. We entered the kitchen-dining-room combo and were met with a fabulous meal of stuffed chicken breast, mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables.

"I thought we should have one family dinner before you guys have to leave." Trina said, getting a little teary eyed as she stared at us.

Virgil stepped up first. "It's wonderful, Mom, thanks." He gave her a warm hug and she gasped.

"Mom?" She asked, a happy tone lacing her voice.

"Is that okay?" Virgil pulled away from their hug.

She nodded, a tear trickled down his face. "Of course it's okay. It's more than okay." Virgil smiled and went to go make himself a plate.

It was my turn to give her a large hug. "Thanks, Mom. It looks wonderful."

"You too, huh? That's…splendid." She chuckled.

"Well," I pulled out of our hug. "I needed to call someone 'Mom', and you're the perfect candidate." She gave me another hug and we went to the table.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Are you sure you don't want us to come?" Mr. Hawkins asked Virgil and I the following day. Him, Trina, and Bruce were standing in front of Virgil and I in the living room of the Hawkins house, our luggage laying in front of the stairs.

"Yes, we're sure." I answered for us. "We're big kids," Virgil threw his arm over my shoulders. "We can take care of ourselves."

"I don't know…" He trailed off, his worry prominent.

"Dad," I began. "Virgil and I are going to be fine. We have an apartment a mile south of campus, our class schedules are all worked out; everything's going to be okay."

"You better be." Bruce smiled at us. "Otherwise I'm going to come up there and kick your asses." We both chuckled. "Have fun, alright guys?"

"We will." Virgil confirmed. "I'll make sure she goes to at least one party this year."

"Well, not too many now." Trina warned, beating Mr. Hawkins to the punch. "You guys still have to study."

It was my turn to confirm. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he hits the books."

"Virgil," Bruce whispered. "Can I talk to you for a second?" He nodded and they slid into the kitchen.

"What's up, Bruce?" Virgil said his name wearily. Even though Brucie had told him countless times to stop calling him 'Mr. Wayne', but he hadn't really gotten used to it.

He grabbed Virgil by the back of the neck. "If you let any harm come to my little Andi, I will kill you. I don't care that you're family." He said with a wicked, toothy smile.

"But even something were to happen to her, God forbid." He added quickly. "Isn't she just going to heal herself?"

Bruce sighed and dropped his smile. "I'm not just talking about physical injury, Virg." He said that name as threat. "If some little boy decides to break her heart, you best be breaking bones. Or I will." He whispered. "Got it?"

"Yes, sir." Virgil swallowed.

"Virgil," Bruce turned him back to the door. "It's Bruce, please." They came back into the living room.

I saw Virgil's slightly terrified look and gave Bruce a cocked eyebrow. "Brucie, what have you been doing to the poor kid?"

"He was just giving me some brotherly advice for my little sister." Virgil said, inching away from Bruce's reach.

"Wait." I paused, trying to process. "_Little_ sister?"

"Yeah," Virgil said like that fact was the most commonly known thing in the world. "You were born in February, I was born in January. _Little_ sister."

I gave a nervous chuckle at his answer, and I nodded. "Right." Oh, you are completely wrong, Virgil! "Well, I think it's about time we should be going."

"Are you absolutely one hundred percent sure you don't want one of us to tag along?" Mr. Hawkins pressed once more.

"Yeah, Pops." Virgil said, picking up his bags. "We'll be cool."

"Dad," I picked up my bags. "Come on, we'll be okay. And we'll come back all of the time. Right, Virg?"

"Of course. Holidays, long weekends, we'll visit for birthdays and such. Trust me, you'll be sick of us before too long." Virgil slung his bag over his shoulder and went over to Mr. Hawkins. "I love you, Pops." He gave him a large hug.

Mr. Hawkins returned the embraced. "I love you too, Son."

He pulled away and faced Trina. "Love you, Mom."

"I love you, Virgil." She hugged him.

Virgil went over to Bruce. "I'll…make sure to follow your advice."

Bruce gave him a small smirk. "You better." Surprising him, Bruce gave Virgil a brief hug.

I went up to Mr. Hawkins. "Thank you for everything, Dad." I stood on the tips of my toes and gave the man a large hug. He eagerly returned the favor.

"It was my pleasure."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Andi. And don't you ever forget it." I pulled away with a smile and went over to Trina.

"Be safe, okay?" She asked, pulling me into a hug.

"Always." I gave her a quick squeeze, pulled away, and went to Bruce.

I stared up at him. "Uh oh." He said. "Are you having second thoughts?"

"Maybe." I smiled sheepishly. "I don't really want to leave again."

"It's not like you're running away."

"It feels like it."

He opened his arms up. "Come here." I went to him and he enveloped me in his arms; I have never felt so loved. The usual "I love you" 's did not need to be said. We already knew that. Instead, Brucie just said, "Stay out of trouble, Gypsy."

I smiled against his chest. "I can try, but I can't make any promises, Hayes."

His kissed the top of my head and let me go. "Have fun."

I went back over to Virgil and grabbed his shoulder. "We'll be back."

"Soon." He added quickly before we both disappeared.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Virgil and I appeared in front of a large building, It was three stories tall, with the second and third story coated in windows. I looked over at the sign adjacent to it and smiled.

"Virgil," I started, turning to look at him. "Welcome to Langara College."


	18. Chapter 18

Andi Hojem Series (In Order):

1. Intelligence Doesn't Mix With Nature – Static Shock

2. The First Summer – Fantastic Four

3. The Second Summer – X-Men Evolution

4. The Third Summer – Iron Man

5. College Of Nightmares – Blade

6. The Beginnings Of A Long Life – X-Men Evolution (Coming Soon)

7. I Promise To Be Careful – Fantastic Four

8. Lives Of The Children – Fantastic Four (Coming Soon)

9. Inheritances – Batman Beyond (Coming Soon)

10. Epilogue – Static Shock (Coming Soon)


End file.
